


An Act of Kindness

by katlynwtf



Series: GenRai Week 2017 [3]
Category: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden
Genre: Day Three: Mission/Training, GenRai Week 2017, M/M, Minor canon divergence, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Series, Third Shinobi War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-13 22:39:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11769873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katlynwtf/pseuds/katlynwtf
Summary: Three months, six days, and five hours into the war, and Genma was beginning to regret his decision to become a shinobi. It was a strange thought - since he was little and he had heard his mother’s stories about her life as a shinobi, he had always known that he wanted to be just like her, saving the world one S-rank mission at a time. Of course, reality had not lived up to the expectations, but despite that, he had always known that he was exactly where he was meant to be.Until he found himself on the battlefield, a child thrown into an adult’s war, dodging another barrage of kunai as he darted through the trees.





	An Act of Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> GenRai week has ended but my slow ass is just now getting around to finishing my stuff for it oops XD
> 
> So here is my late contribution for GenRai Week 2017, Day Three: Mission/Training!
> 
> I know in canon they're friends in their youth, but for the sake of this story, I made it so they know _of_ each other, but they don't really _know_ each other.
> 
> Genma's ~14, Raido's ~16

Three months, six days, and five hours into the war, and Genma was beginning to regret his decision to become a shinobi. It was a strange thought - since he was little and he had heard his mother’s stories about her life as a shinobi, he had always known that he wanted to be just like her, saving the world one S-rank mission at a time. Of course, reality had not lived up to the expectations, but despite that, he had always known that he was exactly where he was meant to be.

Until he found himself on the battlefield, a child thrown into an adult’s war, dodging another barrage of kunai as he darted through the trees.

Skirmishes along the border were not an uncommon thing these days, but they usually only lasted a few hours before one side called a retreat, but the battle with the Land of Earth along the border of the Land of Fire had stretched on for three days now and showed no signs of stopping. He’d been separated from his squad hours ago, and while trying to find them again had run into the group of Hidden Stone shinobi that were now chasing him through the forest. He could hear them laughing behind him as he fled, calling him a coward, but he had never been stupid - he was outnumbered, and to turn around and attempt to fight would only end in his premature death.

He had no intentions of dying today. Not for years, really, if he could help it, and definitely not in this war he was decidedly too young for.

Weaving through the trees, he dodged another kunai, catching sight of the attached paper bomb and leaping out of the blast range just before it exploded. The area filled with thick grey smoke, and fighting back a cough, he used it to his advantage, disappearing up into the treetops.

Below, he could hear them yelling at one another to find him. He had escaped their pursuit, but he wouldn’t be safe until he put as much distance as he possibly could between them.

Dusk was beginning to settle on the forest when Genma finally stopped to catch his breath, straddling a high tree branch and reaching for his pouch and the food pills he knew he had stored inside, but there was nothing there. He must have lost it in the explosion.

Swearing under his breath, he leaned back against the trunk of the tree, trying to think about anything other than the low grumble of his stomach.

The way he saw it, he had two options. He could stay here in this tree and rest for the night, resuming his search for his squad in the morning, or he could continue through the dark and pray he found someone, _anyone_ , wearing a Hidden Leaf hitai-ate (while also hoping that they didn’t think he was an enemy and attack him). Neither option sounded particularly pleasant, but as the forest steadily continued to darken around him, he knew he had to make a choice soon.

Genma had just gotten to his feet again when he heard a noise below him - quiet, the scuffle of a shoe on the forest floor, perhaps. Drawing his last kunai from the pouch strapped around his right thigh, he crouched, preparing to drop down on the unsuspecting shinobi below.

Quieting his breathing, he leapt down from the branches, landing silently behind the other shinobi. Genma had his kunai to the other boy’s throat before he even realized he was behind him, and a second later he felt a kunai against his side.

“Don’t move,” he murmured, pressing the kunai into the skin, feeling the other shinobi wince. “Drop your weapon.”

“Drop yours,” the other boy countered, the tip of his own blade digging in. “Unless you think you’re fast enough.” Genma contemplated the idea for a moment, then shook his head. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t just killed him already, he had had the element of surprise and still had the upper hand, yet something was stilling his blade.

“You first,” Genma finally said, loosening his hold on the other shinobi, but only slightly, not enough for him to slip from his grasp. “Then I will.”

“How do I know you won’t just kill me?”

“If I were going to, don’t you think I would have done it already?”

“Fair point.” The pinprick pressure of the kunai at his side vanished, and then the other shinobi held up his empty hands. “Your turn.”

Lowering his own blade, Genma stepped back, allowing the other shinobi to turn... and then he breathed a sigh of relief when he recognized the Konoha flak jacket beneath his black cloak and the insignia carved into his hitai-ate.

“You’re from the Leaf,” he said, unable to stop the relieved grin from spreading across his face. “Shit, is it good to see you. Sorry, you know, for almost killing you.”

“Same,” the other shinobi replied, giving a cautious smile in return. “You look familiar. Shiranui, isn’t it? I’m Raido.”

“Genma.” He stuck out his hand, and after another moment of cautious distance, Raido took it. “I remember you, from the Academy. You hung out with Asuma and Kurenai.”

“Yeah. So what are you doing all the way out here by yourself?” Raido changed the subject with ease, releasing Genma’s hand and heading off in the direction he had come from. After a second’s hesitation, Genma followed, catching up to him in just a few long strides..

“I was separated from my squad,” he answered, glancing up at Raido, studying the serious expression on his scarred face. He remembered the boy, a couple of years older than he was, quiet and studious. At the time, he had found the boy with the bandage wrapped around his face to hide his scars entirely unremarkable, but looking at him now, he couldn’t really recall why.

Perhaps it was that he was better at reading people now, but there was something intriguing about Raido, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Genma kept stealing surreptitious glances at the older boy as they continued to wherever Raido was leading him (a camp, he hoped, preferably with other older Leaf shinobi who knew what they were doing because he sure as hell didn’t), drawn to the quiet calm he exuded, even as his eyes darted in every direction as if expecting danger to be lurking behind every tree. Suddenly, he stopped, holding up a hand in a silent gesture for Genma to do the same.

“What is it?” Genma asked quietly, watching Raido turn a slow circle, squinting through the dark forest. He didn’t answer, pausing and focusing on something to what Genma thought might be the south - and then he suddenly turned and ran left, gesturing for Genma to follow him.

They moved silently through the trees, until Raido paused near some thick brush, glancing back at Genma before ducking through. Genma hesitated, but only for a second before following him through, finding himself standing in the mouth of a small cave when he stood on the other side. Raido was sitting against the wall, digging through his pack.

“Here,” the older boy said, looking up and tossing something in Genma’s direction. He caught it, glancing down at the familiar foil packaging of a rations bar. Mumbling a thank you, he sat opposite Raido and tore it open, barely remembering to chew as he scarfed it down - thinking about it, he couldn’t really remember the last time he had eaten. This morning, at least, before the fighting had started. “Who’s your squad leader?”

“Akimichi Choza,” Genma answered, crumpling his empty wrapper and shoving it into his pocket, accepting the canteen that Raido was now holding out to him, taking a long swig. “We got into it with some Stone-nin and got separated in the fighting. Probably thinks I’m dead.”

“My squad ran into him not three hours ago.” Genma perked up at that, wide eyes meeting Raido’s. “They were heading back behind the skirmish lines, toward the medical zone. I can take you there in the morning.”

“What about your squad?” Genma asked, passing the canteen back and drawing his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. “They’ll be worried, won’t they?”

“They’re also behind the skirmish lines, I was out scouting,” Raido responded, unfastening his cloak and balling it up, tossing it over to Genma. “Get some rest, I’ve got first wach.” The tone of his voice said it wasn’t up for discussion, and Genma wasn’t going to argue. He laid down, Raido’s cloak beneath his head, and closed his eyes.

He must have been more tired than he originally thought, because sleep came easier than expected.

\---

The next morning found Genma and Raido standing near the entrance to the medical staging area, not quite ready to part ways yet, but aware that they had no choice.

“Thanks for looking out for me out there,” Genma said, sticking out his hand and grinning when Raido shook it, his hand warm around Genma’s. “Don’t know how I’m going to repay you-”

“Just make it through the war alive,” Raido replied, giving him a tentative smile in return. “Maybe we could hang out when we both get home.” The unspoken _if_  hung heavy in the air between them, and Genma felt his smile falter, but he didn’t let it fall.

“Definitely.” Genma released his hand, stepping back and raising his hand in a lazy wave. “Be safe out there, Raido.” Turning, he walked off to catch up with Choza-sensei.

When he glanced back, Raido was gone.

He knew it was entirely possible that they would never see each other again... but he sincerely hoped they did.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto and all recognizable characters belong to Kishimoto. Title is from a Bastille song of the same name.
> 
> I live for comments and constructive feedback :D


End file.
